BOSTON (AP) — The governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island are stepping up calls on President Barack Obama to scale back the proposed shrinking of the Army National Guard.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Connecticut’s Dannel Malloy and Rhode Island’s Lincoln Chafee joined 44 other governors who sent a joint letter to Obama expressing strong opposition to a plan to reduce the forces from 358,000 nationwide to 315,000.

The 47 governors say in a letter sent on Friday that the National Guard has demonstrated it is a cost-effective, operational force that is critical to our national security at home and abroad.

The governors ask Obama to reconsider the cuts. They urged him to work with them to come up with solutions that “provide a scalable, cost-effective force that best serves the interests of our nation.”

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